Port of Valencia 4.94

The Port of Valencia, seaport located in Valencia, Spain. It is the fifth busiest seaport in Europe, being also the largest in Spain and in the Mediterranean Sea basin, with an annual traffic capacity of around 57 million tonnes of cargo (2009) and 4,210,000 TEU (2010).The port is also an important employer in the area, with more than 15,000 employees who provide services to more than 7,500 ships every year.HistoryThe history of the Port of Valencia began in 1483, when King Ferdinand the Catholic granted Antoni Joan the privilege of building a wooden bridge on the beach of the Grao district, called the Pont de Fusta.From 1483 until the 19th century, various construction projects were built in the port, but because of periodic flooding of the Turia River and the continual movements of sand on the beach the port was not notably successful. However, traffic did increase incrementally over time and the king eventually granted trading privileges with other kingdoms and sovereign states in 1679 and for the Americas in 1791, with Valencia becoming the sixth maritime province in Spain.